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Kent State sports Jan. 27-Feb. 2 | Jenna Batsch leads Flashes to women's basketball wins
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- Kent State sports Jan. 27-Feb. 2 | Jenna Batsch leads Flashes to women's basketball wins
Jenna Batsch guides Kent State to women's basketball win over Akron
Senior Jenna Batsch continued to show her scoring prowess Saturday afternoon with 25 points to lead host Kent State University to a 73-51 win over rival University of Akron in Mid-American Conference women's basketball.
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A crowd of 2,256 watched Kent State (15-7, 8-2) compile a 20-0 run over the final 6:26 of the first quarter and opening minute of the second quarter. KSU erased a 4-2 deficit and led 22-4 to separate from Akron (9-13, 3-7).
Sophomore Mya Babbitt made 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to start KSU's scoring surge. Akron had five turnovers and missed seven field goal attempts during KSU's run.
Kent State guards Journey Hildebrand (4) and Jenna Batsch (12) celebrate as the Golden Flashes increase their lead over Akron in the first half, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Kent.
The Flashes led 39-14 at halftime, 64-26 during the third quarter and 66-35 entering the fourth quarter.
KSU sophomore Janae Tyler totaled 14 points, five rebounds and a block. Babbitt had 13 points and sophomore and Riley Rismiller scored six points and grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds. Dionna Gray scored five points, Tatiana Thomas added four points and Bridget Dunn contributed two points, five rebounds, four assists and one block.
Kent State guard Jenna Batsch shoots over Akron guard Zakia Rasheed in the second half, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025, in Kent.
Shelbee Brown paced Akron with 15 points, seven rebounds and two steals. Ni'Rah Clark and Alexus Mobley scored 10 points apiece. Liz Murphy scored eight points and had two steals. Clark and Mobley each grabbed four rebounds. Clark also had two blocks and two steals. Mobley's stat line included two assists.
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Kent State has won five MAC regular-season games in a row by 14 or more points for the first time since the 2001-02 season and will next be in action at Northern Illinois on Wednesday.
Akron Zips guard Alexus Mobley (2) has her shot stuffed by Kent State Golden Flashes guard Jenna Batsch (12) and center Riley Rismiller (30) on Feb. 1, 2025, in Kent, Ohio.
Jenna Batsch delivers career-high performance to lead Kent State women's basketball to win over Eastern Michigan
Senior Jenna Batsch scored a career-high 33 points Wednesday night to lead host Kent State in a 79-59 women's basketball win over Eastern Michigan.
The Golden Flashes (14-7, 7-2 MAC) won their fourth game in a row by 14 or more points and improved to 9-2 inside of the M.A.C. Center this season.
Batsch shot 13 of 21 from the field to record the highest single-game scoring performance for KSU since Jordan Korinek finished with 36 points against Bowling Green on Jan. 31, 2018.
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Batsch made 3-pointers on Kent State's first two possessions and added a layup to give the Flashes an 8-0 lead. Batsch scored 10 points in each of the first two quarters and had 29 points through three quarters. She scored four points in the opening two minutes of the fourth quarter.
KSU sophomore Riley Rismiller scored 13 points and sophomore Janae Tyler added 12 points and five rebounds. Junior Dionna Gray finished with a career-high nine assists, as Kent State totaled 20 as a team to only nine turnovers.
VonCameron Davis leads Kent State to men's basketball win over Bowling Green
The Kent State University men's basketball team appears to be rounding into the form that coach Rob Senderoff envisioned in the preseason.
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Kent State snapped a three-game losing streak at home Tuesday night with a 75-57 win over Bowling Green at the MAC Center.
The victory came at the perfect time for Kent State (13-7, 4-4) as it is set to host Mid-American Conference leading Akron (15-5, 8-0) at 7 p.m. Friday.
"This was a great way for us to bounce back here," Senderoff told reporters Tuesday. "We have five our next six games at home. We needed to get ourselves back with a win. We did a really good job. ... Everybody tonight did a tremendous job defensively, first and foremost, and then offensively we shared the ball, shot the ball well and took care of the ball."
Kent State forward VonCameron Davis celebrates after a second-half shot against Bowling Green in the Mid-American Conference Tournament semifinals, Friday, March 15, 2024, in Cleveland.
Redshirt senior forward VonCameron Davis led KSU past BGSU with 24 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Davis made 10 of 16 shots from the field, including 4 of 7 from beyond the 3-point arc.
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"I am definitely trusting in the work," Davis told reporters Tuesday. "Me and my coach and assistant coaches, we work very hard in putting in extra shots. Seeing that really pays off, makes you feel good and benefits the team ultimately."
Golden Flashes senior guard Jalen Sullinger had 18 points and two steals. Sophomore guard Cian Medley recorded his first career double-double with 12 points, 10 assists and four rebounds.
"I am trusting my teammates," Medley told reporters Tuesday. "They had to make the shot. The assist comes from two people. I trust my teammates. I have a whole bunch of confidence in them and they have confidence in me."
KSU opened MAC play with erractic performances that included wins on the road at Northern Illinois (68-50), at Buffalo (68-49) and at Toledo (83-64), a loss at Ohio (61-59) and losses at the MAC Center to Ball State (75-67), Western Michigan (94-83) and Miami (70-61).
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The Golden Flashes led the Falcons 41-23 at halftime Tuesday and extended their advantage to 25 points in the second half.
KSU senior guard Marquis Barnett, a Brunswick graduate, contributed 10 points. Senior center Cli'Ron Hornbeak chipped in seven points and six rebounds and junior forward Delrecco Gillespie added four points and seven rebounds.
"I am proud of these guys," Senderoff said. "We had a disappointing loss last Friday [at Ohio] coming off a really good win last Tuesday [at Toledo]. I thought we bounced back the way we were hoping we would and the way we needed to. Looking forward to seeing what we can do here over the last half of the season. We have 10 more conference games and hopefully we can position ourselves well for the conference tournament.
"As I mentioned five of the next six, or now it is four of the next five at home, starting this Friday against Akron, who is playing great. Really looking forward to seeing how our team can build as we move forward and head towards the finish line here in conference play."
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Bowling Green senior forward Marcus Johnson, a St. Vincent-St. Mary graduate, had 21 points and six rebounds.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Kent State basketball, Flashes sports for the week of Jan. 27-Feb. 2
